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Gob Bluth
George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II (known by his initials "G.O.B.", /ˈdʒoʊb/[5] pronounced like the Biblical figure Job; played by Will Arnett) is the oldest child of George Sr. and Lucille Bluth, who discovers that his own illegitimate son isSteve Holt. By trade a part-time magician, he is a founding member of the "Magicians' Alliance", a group that was formed to preserve magicians' secrets; however, he was later blacklisted by them for revealing such a secret. He is known for incorporating over-the-top theatrics into his magic shows, including pyrotechnics, dance routines, wind machines, and Europe's "The Final Countdown". Gob's illusions (which he adamantly never calls "tricks") rarely work and he often shoots lighter fluid accidentally from his shirt sleeve or collar. George Sr. paid little attention to Gob as a child and has no respect for him as an adult; his mother Lucille openly loathes him. On several occasions, Gob and Michael realize that their rivalry has been nurtured by their father and mother's manipulations. Gob is known to be the womanizer of the Bluth family, though he often exaggerates his romantic encounters in what he believes is an intense competition with Michael (though Michael does not reciprocate these competitive feelings). In fact, Gob loves Michael more than anyone else in his family and is surprised whenever Michael does not express such feelings in return. Eventually, Gob discovers that he is the father of the teenage jock Steve Holt. Toward the end of season 1, Gob, in a series of escalating dares, marries a woman who deals in trained seals (played by then real-life wife Amy Poehler). The two immediately and permanently become estranged from each other and she later becomes infatuated with Tobias Fünke, Gob's brother-in-law, and joins the army in the hopes of avoiding her attraction. A running joke throughout the series is that Gob never learns his wife's name. Any time his self-esteem is shattered or challenged, Gob will burst into tears and cry with self-loathing, or take extreme and often self-destructive measures to cease the self-disgust he feels. He recurringly ingests "forget-me-now" pills (i.e. roofies) in order to forget these emotionally damaging activities. When upset or excited, Gob often fails to use articles or prepositions in his sentences, saying things like "Look at Banner!" and "Still mad me, Michael?" He also sometimes has difficulty pronouncing words that begin with the letter "c." Despite Gob's "womanizing" abilities, he has no real friends; his closest friends are the Hot Cops, a group of gay strippers that Gob once worked with. He uses the Hot Cops in many situations, including a fake drug bust and for fake friends at a bachelor party. He desperately desires to be liked but his habits of treating people poorly and lack of any real self-awareness prevent him from ever forming bonds. He wants to be looked to for decisions but is completely unwilling to accept any responsibility and most of his family regard him as an idiot. He is also the original creator and inspiration for the Mr. Bananagrabber character. Although he retains most of the rights to the character, he gave away the animation rights to Michael. It was later made into an animated television series that became an infrequent background joke. He also briefly had a ventriloquist act with a stereotyped African-American doll named Franklin Delano Bluth. Gob and Franklin produce an album together, "Franklin Comes Alive". He is frequently seen throughout the series getting around on a Segway which has a pouch that says "Gob" on it. Gob's often repeated lines are "Come on!" and, "I've made a huge mistake" which are also used in various forms by himself and later by other characters as well. In the fourth (revival) season of the show, Gob prepares to marry his nephew George Michael's ex-girlfriend, Ann, though he escapes the wedding during a botched magic trick. He then attempts to thwart his long-time magician rival, Tony Wonder, though the two find themselves experiencing surprising romantic feelings for each other and even have a sexual liaison. GOB's character has been well received and Will Arnett has been nominated for a number of awards for his performance as GOB including the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006 as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (shared with the entire cast) Category:Characters